Tag: Sacramento Kings

Jazz refuse to quit with 132-93 pounding of Kings

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Photo credit: sacbee.com

By Jeremy Harness

SACRAMENTO — The Golden 1 Center was half-empty on Thursday, and the brave souls who showed up probably wished they had not.

The Sacramento Kings sure didn’t. They were smacked around in every way imaginable right from the opening tip-off in a 132-93 drubbing at the hands of the Utah Jazz, the team’s first home preseason game against an NBA opponent.

Let’s put it this way: The Kiss-Cam got more applause than the Kings did.

The boo birds, as well as the occasional shout of “you suck” started midway through the second quarter. It only intensified after a Rudy Gobert fast-break dunk gave the Jazz a 62-29 lead. The booing did cease, however, in the second half, possibly due to either a strong sense of resignation or a general lack of interest.

The majority of Utah’s field-goal attempts were uncontested, which explains why the Jazz converted 60 percent of them (51 of 85), including 14 of their 30 3-point shots. The Kings, meanwhile, were flat broke the entire game, starting with DeAaron Fox’s jumper from the free-throw line clanking off the base of the rim.

What followed were missed layups and other point-blank attempts as well as a complete lack of defense. Utah used the first 12 minutes of the game to get out to a 39-10 lead.

It got no better during the course of Thursday’s game. In fact, it got painfully worse. The Kings were a woeful 34 percent (32 of 93) from the floor.

Sacramento was losing it on the court, and it seemed to trickle down to the head coach, and that didn’t take very long. After calling a timeout upon Sacramento going down 32-7 late in the opening quarter, Dave Joerger waited exactly seven seconds–about the time it took for Sacramento to get the ball across half-court–to call another one.

The second quarter was simply an extension of the first. While going down 45-10 in the first two minutes of the quarter, Buddy Hield missed a wide-open fast-break layup and watched as the putback attempt got wedged in between the basket and the backboard. Meanwhile, the Jazz built up a 36-point halftime lead and led at one point by 44 points.

The Jazz were led by Rudy Gobert, who caught numerous alley-oops for dunks and put in a few more uncontested attempts on his way to 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

Rookie Marvin Bagley III, whom the Kings selected with the second pick of this year’s draft, scored 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Willie Cauley-Stein had 16 points, but he was manhandled by Utah big man Rudy Gobert in the process. Harry Giles III and Justin Jackson each scored 12 points for Sacramento.

NOTES: It’s probably not a good sign when Skal Labissiere–who was a first-round pick just two years ago–doesn’t see his first action of the game until the start of the fourth quarter, after the Kings had been trailing by at least 20 since the opening minutes of the game.

Ben McLemore, who was part of the trade that sent guard–and proven leader–Garrett Temple to the Memphis Grizzlies, did not get into the game until the fourth quarter as well.

UP NEXT: The Kings head up north to the Moda Center to take on the Portland Trail Blazers in their final preseason game Friday night at 7:00 pm PT on NSNW.

Are the Kings the NBA’s least appealing team?

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By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO — The Kings have the league’s shiniest arena, enthusiastic fans, promising, young talent, and they play a pleasing, break neck pace. What’s not to like?

According to ESPN NBA journalist Zach Lowe, a bunch. Simply based on their youthfulness, and lack of proven NBA performers, most prognosticators have pegged the Kings as the league’s 30th (out of 30) most talented team.  But that doesn’t make them the least appealing to watch as well, does it?

Lowe thinks so, right down to iconic broadcaster Jerry Reynolds stepping away from his position as television color analyst after 20 seasons, replaced by Doug Christie. Sacramento basketball without Reynolds’ folksy analysis? Not good, says Lowe.

In fact, according to Lowe, only one thing can save the Kings from such a lowly distinction: De’Aaron Fox flying up and down the court at warp speed gives Sacramento basketball one, pleasing dimension. And beyond that?

Well, the Kings have the intriguing duo of Marvin Bagley III and Harry Giles, the Duke big men that possess positionless attributes. Play the pair together, Lowe says, and the Kings might have something.

In fact, in the Kings’ 132-100 wipeout of Maccabi Haifa, Giles flashed into the lane, received a pass, and seamlessly laid a no-look, behind the back pass to Bagley for the dunk. The Golden 1 Center roared its approval at the sequence.

Willie Cauley-Stein is another piece the Kings possess with appeal. But could this be tatooed, big man’s last year in Sacramento? As a restricted free agent, Cauley-Stein could be more sought after by another team seeking his size and activity in the lane.

The Kings have committed fully to their youth movement, so George Hill, who often seemed disinterested, isn’t around to drag things down. And Zach Randolph is comfortably set in his player emeritus role, so the Kings’ ball movement among the youthful core should be fluid and in keeping with how the NBA does things these days.

Iman Shumpert hasn’t recovered from injuries that have shelved him since his acquisition from the Cavaliers mid-way through last season. But he’s a welcome presence for no other reason than his wife, Teyana Taylor, is hotter than any other player’s wife. Have you seen the video vixen’s explosive performance in Kanye West’s video for his song “Fade”? Can’t label that unappealing, that’s for sure.

Ultimately, what will make the Kings appealing is winning ballgames. Too often, last season, Sacramento games played out like exhibitions with the Kings falling behind, and playing little or no defense. Close, competitive games will make the Kings watchable without a doubt.

GAME NOTES: Buddy Hield led the Kings with 22 points in 27 minutes in their win over Maccabi Haifa. Seven Kings finished in double figures with Giles (16 points, seven rebounds) and Justin Jackson (18 points) the next, most prolific performers. The Kings’ issues with opponents’ physicality disappeared for a night as Sacramento outrebounded Maccabi Haifa 47-36 while totaling a whopping 64 points in the paint.

Maccabi Haifa was paced by former Stanford star and Atlanta Hawk Josh Childress, who had 18 points. Kennedy Meeks (North Carolina) and Scott Machado (Iona) chipped in 17 and 15 points, respectively.

UP NEXT: The Kings wrap up pre-season action with Thursday’s home game against the Utah Jazz at 7:00 pm PT followed by a trip to Portland to face the Trail Blazers at the Moda Center on Friday at 7:00 pm PT.

Th Kings’ regular season opener is set for October 17 at 7:00 pm PT against the Jazz at the Golden 1 Center.

Warriors rout the Kings 122-94 for preseason win in Seattle

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Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors returned to the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington for the first time since 2007. It was a long time coming for the Warriors, who took on the Sacramento Kings in a preseason game in the Emerald City. There was a sellout crowd, and that wasn’t the only thing that got the Warriors fired up. Warriors star Kevin Durant recently said that Seattle is a basketball city that deserves an NBA team. In case you need a refresher, Durant was selected second overall by the ex-Seattle SuperSonics and spent the 2007-08 NBA season with the SuperSonics.

The Warriors tweaked their starters with Tyler Ulis, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Marcus Derrickson and Damian Jones. All these five starters made a positive impact on the court.

Just moments after the tip-off, Thompson opened the scoring with a 3-pointer that sparked Golden State’s 10-0 run early in the first quarter. Durant picked up where he left off. Other players like Kevon Looney and Jordan Bell added some points to the scoreboard. The Warriors led the Kings 39-18 at the end of the first.

Golden State resumed their 3-pointer streak in the second quarter. In other news, Shaun Livingston picked up a dime and handed it to Jonas Jerebko, who threw it down, late in the second. Durant then got the slam before the buzzer to close out the first half. The Warriors brought a 74-44 lead to the locker room at halftime.

Thompson and Durant continued to dominate to kick things off in the third quarter. Durant also notched the alley and Damian Jones collected the oop. Durant later knocked down yet another 3-pointer to give himself 26 points on the night, The Warriors put the game out of reach with a 102-69 lead over the Kings at the end of the third.

Bell made plenty of jumpers in the fourth quarter. Also, Thompson refused to back down as he threw down more 3-pointers late in the fourth. The Warriors had this preseason game from start to finish and downed the Kings 122-94.

Durant proved to the critics that he was still a big deal in Seattle. Durant finished with 26 points, six rebounds ans assists. Moreover, Thompson was just as a big deal as he recorded 30 points, 10-for-15 field goals and 6-for-10 3-point field goals.

Notes
According to the NBA GMs, the title of best pure shooter in the league came down to four NBA players. Three of them were Warriors players.

Up Next
The Warriors return home to host the Phoenix Suns in a preseason game on Monday, October 8 at 7:30 pm PT on NBA TV.

This Yogi knows when it’s over as Kings get 106-102 victory over Suns

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sacramentobee.com photo: The Sacramento Kings Yogi Ferrell leads the way with 26 points in the Kings first preseason victory in Phoenix against the Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Monday night

By Jerry Feitelberg and Morris Phillips

The Sacramento Kings Yogi Ferrell found his way to the bucket enough times to help get a preseason win for the Kings with 26 points. Ferrell, who played two seasons for the Dallas Mavericks, was signed by the Kings as a free agent in the offseason.

The Kings’ three-pointers were also falling, hitting 11-of-25 for 44 percent. The Kings were glad to notch this victory at Talking Stick Resort Arena for their first road victory and first game of the preseason 106-102. On the other hand, the Phoenix Suns were lacking with the three-point attempts, going 3-for-22.

Ferrell came off the bench in this contes,  but with the most minutes of any Kings player of the night, he shined with his intensive ability to find the hoop inside and out staying in the contest with the hot hand at 30 minutes. The Kings’ Willie Cauley-Stein also contributed huge with double digits in both the first and second halves of the game.

Stein went 7-for-11 and finished with 14 points, hitting baskets from the mid-range and in the inside, his 12 rebounds was the team-high for the contest. Head coach Dave Joerger had 15 players ready to play with Bogdan Bogdanovic and three players sat out.

The King opted not to use Zach Randolph, who out of the 11 players who got time, Randolph is a regular and a veteran and is expected to make the team. Of the 11 players used, they averaged 19 minutes with the exception of Wenyen Gabriel, who played for only two minutes.

Morris Phillips and Jerry Feitelberg cover the NBA for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Raiders open up regular season on MNF; The shock waves of the Khalil Mack trade; plus more

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Photo credit: @steverosenbloom

On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 The Oakland Raiders open up their regular season this Monday night September 10th at the Oakland Coliseum. There are lots of expectations for the Raiders on the primetime show.

#2 The talk throughout the NFL is the Khalil Mack trade to the Chicago Bears and getting a record $114 million deal. London discusses how this will work out for the Bears.

#3 Trump says that Nike is sending a “terrible message” with the Colin Kaepernick ad. Trump still doesn’t see unequal treatment and police brutality going on in the African American and Latino/Hispanic communities.

#4 The San Jose Earthquakes, who took a tough 2-1 loss last Saturday in Vancouver, have another two months worth of soccer left with only three wins for the season. Can they make the best of it or will they just go through the motions and suffer through it?

#5 After former Sacramento Kings player DeMarcus Cousins left Sacramento, who will carry the Kings this season? Willie Cauley-Stein, Skal Labissiere, Bogdan Bogdanovic, D’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, or another player to be named later?

London Marq does the Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sportstalk podcast at Diplomat Steakhouse in downtown Sacramento

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Cast: Michael Duca (mlb.com and host), Jeremy Kahn (SF Giants and Oakland Raiders reporter), Jeremy Harness (SF Giants and PGA reporter), London Marq (Sacramento Kings and SJ Earthquakes reporter), Jeremiah Salmonson (Sacramento Kings reporter), Charlie O (Oakland A’s and Sacramento Kings reporter), Lee Leonard (producer).

Sportstalk is proud to podcast at The Diplomat Steakhouse at 1117 11th Street in downtown Sacramento. Our thanks to our hosts: owner Ramesh Prasad, Marketing Patrick Harbison, Manager Chriss Lamm, Assistant General Manager Danielle “Feisty Spice” Feist, Event Concierge Aimee Spaulding, and Kaitlin Deathriage.

Being diplomatic is our brand’s core binding. We are intuitive when in conducting your dining experience, and can achieve peaceful resolutions to any quandary while facilitating intriguing discussion with anyone on the map. We broadened the scope and magnified the habitual steakhouse fare. We resolve differences by implementing international fusion cuisine to please any and all palates. We strive to achieve a peaceful atmosphere, and our ingenuity gives us the edge to connect to any guest.

Restaurateur, Ramesh Prasad, has has dined worldwide in the vast ever occurring steakhouse traditional fine dining concepts. Complacent with their predictability, he manifested his vision into reality. Sacramento is in the prime of revitalization, and developing a signature steakhouse is pioneering the industries’ cravings.

Warriors down the Kings 71-54 Tuesday in game two of the California Classic

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
GSW Over Sac
Damian Jones shoots over Harry Giles III on Tuesday night Photo: @Warriors

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Warriors beat the Kings 71-54 Tuesday night in a game where Sacramento lacked the energy they showed in their victory on Monday night.

Here is a look at the Warriors’ stats:

GSW over Sac 2
Warriors number one draft pick Jacob Evans made his pro debut in the game Photo: @Warriors

The Kings had some individual stats that they will like to remember.

Point guard Frank Mason represented the Kings in the postgame press conference.

SAC 7-2
The Kings found Warriors crowded under the bucket on every shot Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

Here is Summer League head coach Larry Lewis’ postgame analysis.

UP NEXT

  • No games on July 4th
  • Thursday 12 Noon: Warriors vs. Lakers
  • Thursday 2:00 PM: Heat vs. Kings

2018 NBA Draft: Bay Area Edition

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Photo credit: youtube.com

By: Ana Kieu

The 2018 NBA Draft was held on Thursday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. As usual, the draft changes the lives of many college and maybe even high school basketball players each year. That’s almost certain unless if the young prospect turns out to be a draft bust, which is something that nobody wants, but is an inevitable situation in life.

Anywho, the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings were on the board, so let’s see who these two Bay Area teams selected using their respective picks.

First Round
Kings
The Kings had the second overall pick and they used it on Marvin Bagley III, a power forward who grew up in Tempe, Az., and played college basketball at Duke for just one season from 2017-18. In 2018, he was a Consensus First-Team All-American, First-Team All-ACC, and ACC Player of the Year. He also won the Pete Newell Big Man Award. In 2017, he was named to the First-Team All-USA TODAY.

Side Note: Bagley III was selected behind his former high school teammate, Deandre Ayton (center; power forward), in the draft.

Warriors
The Warriors selected Jacob Evans (shooting guard) with the 28th overall pick. He played college basketball at the University of Cincinnati from 2015 to 2018. He finished his college career with 1,233 career points. He was also named to the First-Team All-AAC.

Side Note: Evans declared for the 2018 NBA Draft, but didn’t hire an agent to help him out.

Second Round
Kings
It was a Blue Devil kind of night of the Kings, who selected Gary Trent Jr. (shooting guard) with the 37th overall pick. Like Bagley, Trent Jr. played college basketball at Duke for just one season from 2017-18. In 2017, he was selected as a McDonald’s All-American and played in the Jordan Brand Classic. In 2015, he was the FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship MVP.

Side Note: Gary Trent Jr. is the son of retired pro basketball player Gary Trent, who played in the NBA from 1995-2004, Greece’s Panellinios B.C. from 2004-05 and 2006-07, and Italy’s UniCusano Roma in 2005.

Notes
Warriors’ JaVale McGee will be at Levi’s Bay Area store on Friday from 12-1 pm on behalf of his Juglife Water Foundation and ahead of the Water For Life Charity Softball Game.

Kings will move G League Team from Reno to Stockton for 2018-19 season

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G League (3)

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings announced on Monday their intention to move their G League franchise  – the Reno Bighorns – to Stockton for the 2018-19 season. This move would have their development team just 45 minutes away from Kings offices, coaches, training and medical staff. This also follows the pattern of the majority of teams in the NBA which have relocated their developmental league teams to within an hour driving distance of their organization’s main facilities.

“Our NBA G League team has been an incredible asset to help prepare players for NBA action and bringing the team closer to Sacramento will allow us to continue to build on that success and increase efficiency to this valuable development tool,” said Sacramento Kings General Manager Vlade Divac. “Kings fans in Stockton will now have an opportunity to see the next-generation of NBA players each week.”

skal
Skal Labissiere

The Kings have taken full advantage using players from the Reno team over the past two seasons. In 2017-18, the team sent several of its rookies to play with the Bighorns to gain some experience which they put to good use at the NBA level. Skal Labissiere and Malachi Richardson (now with the Toronto Raptors) both benefited greatly from their time with the Bighorns.

This season has seen the addition of the “two-way” players who can be on the NBA roster of their parent team and then must spend the remainder of their time playing in the G League. JaKarr Sampson and Jack Cooley have both made substantial contributions to the Kings during the regular season. Sacramento also signed Nigel Hayes from the Westchester Knicks to a two-year contract.

sac sampson
Kings “two-way” player JaKarr Sampson

The Bighorns sent three players to three other NBA teams this season. David Stockton – who has also played for the Kings – was signed Utah Jazz. Reggie Hearn went to Detroit and Aaron Harrison was signed by the Mavericks.

Stockton is a very interesting choice because of its tremendous growth potential. With Bay Area housing prices soaring, people are willing to endure longer commutes in order to be able to buy a home. Stockton is projected to a desirable locale because of its freeway access and rail service to the Silicon Valley. That means potential fans for the G League team that could be cultivated into Sacramento Kings fans.

Stockton already has a very strong track record of supporting minor league sports teams. The Stockton Ports have played baseball in California League since its beginning in 1941 and are currently an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. Stockton is also the home of the Heat of the American Hockey League who are affiliated with the Calgary Flames. The Heat and the G League team will share the same arena.

“It is my honor to welcome the Kings organization to Stockton and I look forward to watching NBA G League action at the Stockton Arena,” said Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs. “The Kings have been known for their tremendous impact in the community and we’re excited to have their support as we continue to reinvent Stockton.”

A four-time All-America City winner, with honors as recently as 2017, Stockton is California’s thirteenth largest city. Stockton Arena is located in the heart of the city’s downtown waterfront and entertainment center. The venue opened in 2005 and includes 24 luxury suites, seating for up to 12,000.

The Kings G League basketball operations will be headquartered at Kings former practice facility in Natomas next to the old arena. The business operations for the new team will be housed at the arena in Stockton.

Spurs reach NBA playoffs for 21st straight season, beat Kings 98-85

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Photo credit: @a2dradio_com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Monday, April 9, 2018

An old friend came back to haunt his old team on Monday at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

Former Sacramento forward Rudy Gay scored 18 points – 16 in the second half – leading the playoff-bound Spurs past the Kings 98-85, clinching a Western Conference postseason berth for the 21st consecutive season.

Gay, who added six rebounds off the Spurs’ bench, opted out his contract with the Kings last summer and signed with San Antonio (47-34).

Willie Cauley-Stein paced Sacramento with 25 points and 10 rebounds. De’Aaron Fox contributed 21 points and seven assists and Buddy Hield added 17 points for the Kings (26-55).

40-year-old Manu Ginobili popped in 17 points (on 5-of-11 shooting) to go with six rebounds, a steal and five assists; and LaMarcus Aldridge added 15 points and 14 boards for San Antonio.

Sacramento led most of the way, as the Spurs didn’t take their first lead until the 10:18 mark of the fourth quarter. The Kings, who led by as many as 14 points, still held a 77-75 lead with 6:31 remaining until San Antonio closed the game with a 23-8 run.

Ginobili scored or assisted on 14 of those final 23 Spurs points.

Kings’ rookie Bogdan Bogdanovic struggled against the Spurs, hitting 1 of 8 field goal attempts and finishing with two points. Another key to San Antonio’s win was the free throw line – the Spurs hit 24 of 29 at the stripe, while the Kings were 11 of 17.

Up Next: The Kings conclude the regular season with a home game versus the Houston Rockets Wednesday at 7:30 pm PT.